A BRADFORD woman who was involved in many compassionate projects in America, and helped victims of Hurricane Katrina, has died, aged 78.

Veronica Cocchiaraley (nee Salmon) became a United States citizen in 1981 and had a strong commitment to volunteering and community service. She taught English as a second language to adult learners with the charity Literacy Volunteers of America and she also taught English to adults at the Hitchcock Presbyterian Church in Scarsdale, New York.

She was a member of the American Red Cross, with which she provided assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005.

Veronica worked primarily as an administrative assistant, later becoming an office manager, and after taking semi-retirement in she worked in a nursing home.

She is survived by her son, Christopher, who described her as "a proud and loving mother as well as a life mentor".

She also leaves her sisters Patricia, Kathleen and Christine, and brother, Brian. Veronica was married to her late husband, Alfred, for 22 years.

Christopher paid tribute to his mother: "She was known for her optimistic outlook, her compassion for others and her penchant for having fun. She loved travelling and making new friends. She will be fondly remembered and dearly missed."

In 2010 Veronica and her sisters Patricia and Christine travelled to Normandy in France, where they visited the grave of their grandfather, Bernard Coyne, who fought in the First World War. Bernard's name is inscribed on a commemorative wall at St Mary's Church in Bradford.

The following year Veronica returned to Bradford for a special tribute to her family. She joined her siblings Christine, Patricia and Dominick at the Alhambra where several years previously they had purchased a box of seats in memory of their parents. Veronica had the box above the stage engraved with their names, Annie Salmon and Dominick Salmon, after reading about Bradford Theatres' Name a Seat scheme in the Telegraph & Argus. In 2011 the siblings had another box dedicated to their brother, Peter Salmon, grandmother, Annie Coyne, and aunt, Norah Coyne.

Veronica told the T&A: "We were born and brought up in Bradford and as children in the 1940s we came to the Alhambra pantomime every year with our Aunt Norah. When my sisters became involved with the Bradford Catholic Players I enjoyed seeing them in shows here.

"My father was a Bradford fireman for many years and worked from the Nelson Street headquarters. My mother was busy bringing up nine children. It's wonderful to have the seats engraved in our parents' memory."

Veronica arranged with Bradford Theatres to have the new engraving on the opposite box. "It's like they're looking at each other across the stage," she said. "It's as if they're always here, in a place where we had such happy memories. The Alhambra is exactly how I remember it. I was born and bred in Bradford and even though I've been living in New York for 37 years I keep up with what's going on there by reading the T&A's website."